Celestial events such equinoxes and solstices can serve to remind us of the vast cycles our smaller life cycles exist within. The turning of the season is a marker which affects everyone, whether it is noticed, celebrated or not. Over millennia the ancients studied the skies and made special note of these turning points within the larger context of what was occurring in the world around them at the time and gained knowledge from it. This cumulative knowledge is foundational to our understanding of the nature of reality.
No matter how long humans have consciously existed, it is obvious many instinctive and biological imperatives still flow beneath the surface of consciousness, driving our thoughts and actions. One of these imperatives is the alternation between dark and light, which remains an impactful archetypical principle despite modern electricity and cities that never sleep.
In the larger context, the autumn equinox denotes a turning point in the year’s cycle as the Sun moves lower in the sky of the Northern Hemisphere and the transition into darkness formally begins. The light (yang) fades in autumn as we mark the official entrance to the dark (yin) half of the year.
The “harvest” is associated with the dark (yin) half of this cycle – reaping what has been sown or looking at the results of what we’ve been working on. The ancients discovered that, as the farmers harvested their crops, there was an enhanced opening or expansion of the ability for assessment on many other levels. This doesn’t happen automatically, the clues are subtle, but available for those who take the time to notice and work with them.
At the autumn equinox we experience an opposition, a balancing out from the increase of light (yang) which was formed the previous spring. It is not unlike the ebb and flow of the tides on a much larger and extended scale, the light was flowing in one direction and now in the other. The ancients taught that life is like that because we exist in a world of duality.
Human existence means we are always balancing somewhere between oppositions of one kind or another. We may find ourselves looking for harmony or some way to exist gracefully day to day. As the days shorten and darkness edges into life a little longer each day, we have an opportunity to slip into and deliberately align ourselves with the movements of this vast celestial cycle. What in your life needs to be brought into balance, cut away or taken up to the next level? What have you gained that is valuable for yourself and how much of it can you offer to others? The autumn equinox is a potent time to listen for answers.
You may find this and similar articles by going to our website page under Features and Essays and the clicking on Ancient Astrology: Ancient Astrology – Time to Contemplate (renasance.ca)